Notes: Sometimes it seems that all the forces of the universe are working against me in the accomplishment of a goal. The first time I collected this mushroom it rotted before it dried because I tried to dry the whole giant mushroom in one piece. Losing the mushroom was very frustrating, because I had gone to considerable lengths to collect the specimen, and I endured a three hour drive home with that thing stinking up my car. The aroma becomes nauseating after a while.

Not wishing to admit defeat, I drove back to West Virginia to get another one, and this time I cut a few slices to bring home and dry instead of taking the whole mushroom. However, even the small pieces stunk so bad that I did not want to leave them in my car for very long, so every time I stopped at a new place to hunt mushrooms, I left the bag of stink-bomb Amanita pieces on the ground beside my car and whenever I was ready to move on I’d pick it up and take it with me.

That evening, about two hours into the drive home, I was feeling pretty good about the hunt, looking forward to bed, and enjoying the fruity scent of the large basket of chanterelles riding shotgun next to me. Suddenly I realized my car did not stink! The stink-bomb Amanita was two hours behind me in the parking lot at Babcock State Park; I probably ran over it with my front tire on the way out. A fitting end to a foul mushroom!

Comments

The soil is not red clay. You can see it is dark brown in the photo. I’ve seen color change in other mushrooms brought on by cool dry air. Maybe it also happens with amanitas? The sharp demarcation of color in the cap warts could be due to a rapid change in humidity while the mushroom was growing. The brownish red parts looked dried out and maybe windburned.

… I have elsewhere described the odor as reminiscent of turpentine, but the bouquet is more complex. It’s a strange mix of teargas and dirty laundry with sweet undertones reminiscent of denatured alcohol. And the smell is not subtle; its all up in your face as soon as you approach the mushroom – very distinctive and strong odor.